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Álora
A beautiful pueblo blanco (white village) at the top of the Guadalhorce
Valley, inland from Malaga. Good roads
connect Álora with Malaga, and the local train runs frequent and fast trains
into the city centre.
It is built on three hills, one of which
is dominated by the ancient Moorish
castle - some parts of which have been
dated back to Phoenician times, possibly some of the oldest remains in
Europe. The cemetery gives wonderful views back down the valley, and is a
place of genuine peace. The town itself centres on two squares, the higher
containing an impressive fountain and the lower the main church.
The market is on Monday morning.
The railway station is down in the valley, by the river. Along the sides of
the valley are many fincas. And as always, the whole town is surrounded by
spectacular views in all directions.
A few kilometres north of the town is
El
Chorro and the Embalsas de Guadalhorce, which are massive man made
reservoirs, easily visible as you approach Malaga by air. This is a National
Park setting, and there is plenty of opportunity for camping and barbecues,
but mostly, you will just gaze in awe at the landscape.
Estación de Cártama
A busy, thriving and rapidly expanding
town. Very little sign of tourism, although there are a couple of British
pubs and a "Paper Shop" selling UK papers. There are quite a lot of
expatriates in the area, but it is predominantly Spanish.
There is a large market on Sunday mornings
(when some of the other shops are open too), and is a great place to have
something to eat in the evening. There are lots of open air tables -
as the Spanish will spend the whole evening at the table, lots of tables are
required or you'd never get a seat! You can have a huge
Brochetta de Pollo (Chicken Brochette) at one place
(who also serves chilled Rioja!) and then go to an
heladería for your ice-cream sundae. It's great to
just sit and watch the Spanish life in the evening, they love to be out in
the evening to see and be seen.
There is also a station here - on the same
line as Malaga and Álora.
There's an absolutely great (fun) restaurant, El Tintero Campero,
about 3-4 km outside Cartama Estación - it's outside, under shade, with huge
trestle tables and paper tablecloths. The waiters run around the place with
plates full of different things (seafood, barbequed meats, salads etc) and you
just stop them when you see something you like. They actually call out in
Spanish and English what it is they are carrying ... but understanding either is
practically impossible! Most families put the plates in the middle of the table
and everyone can just help themselves. It's very reasonably priced. The only
time to go is Sunday lunchtime ... particularly in the summer months. As you
drive on the motorway to Cartama Estación, you can see the Venta (countryside
restaurant) around junction 57 - big green screens covering up from the traffic.
It doesn't look much from the road ... but we love it!
Almendra
del Sur is a great
place to buy some small presents of local produce to take home. It is a
co-operative (local farmers association) that produces honey, almonds and other
local specialities. The shop is almost always completely devoid of human life –
other than a till assistant if you are lucky. All sorts of interesting items
can be seen in here for making honey, processing almonds and olives etc. Hidden
down a side road off the main road through Cartama Estación, there has at last
been a sign erected near the Cepsa petrol station pointing the way.
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